Low voltage differential signaling (LVDS) is a serial link standard designed to accommodate high speed transfer of data which have been implemented for decades in serial data communications in the automotive industry.
Recently, automotive vehicles started to incorporate vision systems that include cameras which capture images of exterior of vehicles. Such vision systems may be used to display captured images for viewing by a driver of a vehicle, but also can be used to detect objects, such as objects to the rear of the vehicle during a reversing maneuver, or such as approaching or following vehicles.
A joint effort within the MIPI Alliance has defined several Camera Serial Interface (CSI) standards such as CSI-1, CSI-2 and CSI-3 which is the latest. See, for example, the Camera Interface Specifications on the MIPI Alliance® website: [http://www.mipi.org/specifications/camera-interface#CSI3]. All MIPI CSI-x standards are meant for high speed transfer of image data over short distances such as across a PCB to a compartment display, compartment projector, head unit or ECU/MCU. In addition to high speed image data transfer, MIPI CSI-x standards are also meant for low power data transfer. In other words, MIPI CSI-x standards support a low power (“LP”) transmission mode and a high speed (“HS”) transmission mode.
As MIPI CSI-x standards correspond to a smaller voltage-swing variant of the LVDS standard, they are also known as “subLVDS” standards. Further, MIPI CSI-x standards are usually implemented on different driver circuitry from those used for LVDS standard.
However, in the automotive industry for instance, it would be desirable to have a single driver circuit which is compliant with both LVDS and MIPI CSI-x standards.